MY F G TAYLOR PLASTICS COLLECTION

[Lady Ferguson]

I started this collection around 5 years ago. Most of the figures were made during the 50s and 60s from the original lead moulds. Not to everyone's taste I know , but they're so quirky and different from what Britains were producing at the same time - I just love 'em 

This is a new piece (it only arrived today). It's a farmer's gig (sadly, missing it's farmer):

This is most of the collection:

And my fave piece:

[THEBRITFARMER]

Very nice Mandy. I have always preferred Britains but must admit they did have some different and varied sets. They ideas were there just not as crisp in sculpting and painting as Britains.

Thanks for sharing

[Massey Boys Mum]

Lovely stuff Mandy - Cerin and I had a giggle about the large poo in the green wagon!

[Lady Ferguson]

Very nice Mandy. I have always preferred Britains but must admit they did have some different and varied sets. They ideas were there just not as crisp in sculpting and painting as Britains.

Thanks for sharing

Thanks, hun. You either love 'em or hate 'em really. I did have a few pieces among my Britains farm when I was a child and they kind of 'stuck with me'.

[Lady Ferguson]

Lovely stuff Mandy - Cerin and I had a giggle about the large poo in the green wagon!

You two!!! It's a corn stook

[Lord Ferguson]

My face is hurting.. I have GOT to get me a cart full off poo for my collection  :D

Why oh why have I found this funny 

[FordTractorCrazy]

it's fun to have something different. And i have a fondness for the plastic stuff. The 2 most expensive models in my collection are made of plastic as well..

Must be quite difficult to find this stuff ? What you have so far, is already quite impressive 

Do you have a catalogue or a book of what has been made by F G Taylor?

[Lady Ferguson]

My face is hurting.. I have GOT to get me a cart full off poo for my collection  :D

Why oh why have I found this funny 

Of everyone on FTF... you could be guaranteed to find this amusing ;D

[Lady Ferguson]

it's fun to have something different. And i have a fondness for the plastic stuff. The 2 most expensive models in my collection are made of plastic as well..

Must be quite difficult to find this stuff ? What you have so far, is already quite impressive 

Do you have a catalogue or a book of what has been made by F G Taylor?

Thank you

Norman Joplin gave me a list, but I've found a couple of extra bits that aren't on the list. There's also a pic of a trade box in the last Joplin lead book (the blue one). There's about 6 pieces I don't yet have (including the sitting farmer for the gig).

[FordTractorCrazy]

joplin lead book??? never heard of it.. but does sound interesting. I like the older stuff, including the lead figures from days gone by.. But find it very difficult to find information on the old models.. I recently acquired a Britains catalog from 1958 but would love to get my hands on books over Britains models before 1960 and from other lead manufacturers.

A part of my collection exists of models made of cast iron. models from 1920-1940 and it is extremely difficult to find any information on those models too.

So if you know any good books on these subjects. please let me know.

[Lady Ferguson]

joplin lead book? ?? never heard of it.. but does sound interesting. I like the older stuff, including the lead figures from days gone by.. But find it very difficult to find information on the old models.. I recently acquired a Britains catalog from 1958 but would love to get my hands on books over Britains models before 1960 and from other lead manufacturers.

A part of my collection exists of models made of cast iron. models from 1920-1940 and it is extremely difficult to find any information on those models too.

So if you know any good books on these subjects. please let me know.

There's three Norman Joplin Civilian Books, Will - they're regarded as 'bibles' for vintage lead figure dealers and collectors (pre 1950s). Norman Joplin, himself is know as the 'god' of hollowcast

There's the Great Book of Hollowcast Figures (Norman's first non-millitary book). You can still pick them up (although they're out of print) for about £35. It's a good starter book, but as it was produced 1993, many more figures have been subsequently discovered, so it's a little out-of-date.

Then he produced a green hard-back, exclusively for Britains figures, which has just about every pre-1950s (I say just about, as objects turn up all the time), that's about £50. It has some buildings and early vehicles, also.

His last Hollowcast book is similar in layout to this one, except it's all the non-Britains (John Hill, Taylor and Barrett, Wend-al etc). It's well-layed out for identification purposes. For example, it's give you a picture of all the lead cows, tells you who made them, and an estimated value. This book is around £80 - not cheap, but it's a big book!

The books are expensive, but to be honest are well worth the investment (and I can probably get you copies of the last two if you want them) - for example the first edition of the original yellow book has been seen to go for £300 on eBay, simply because it's no longer in print and difficult to procure

I'll post up a picture of the F G Taylor trade box when I get five mins

[THEBRITFARMER]

joplin lead book? ?? never heard of it.. but does sound interesting. I like the older stuff, including the lead figures from days gone by.. But find it very difficult to find information on the old models.. I recently acquired a Britains catalog from 1958 but would love to get my hands on books over Britains models before 1960 and from other lead manufacturers.

A part of my collection exists of models made of cast iron. models from 1920-1940 and it is extremely difficult to find any information on those models too.

So if you know any good books on these subjects. please let me know.

A very helpful chap and ever so helpful. I have 2 of his books

Britains New Toy Soldiers

1973-Present

&

Britains Civilian Toy Figures

very informative and lots of colour pictures

http://www.normanjoplin.com/books.htm

[Lady Ferguson]

A very helpful chap and ever so helpful. I have 2 of his books

Britains New Toy Soldiers

1973-Present

&

Britains Civilian Toy Figures

very informative and lots of colour pictures

http://www.normanjoplin.com/books.htm

Indeed he is - this is the Green Britains Book, (as Scott mentioned above):

[img width=602 height=461]http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p67/Supermassiveblackhole2/March/BritainsCivilianToysFigures.jpg

[img width=596 height=446]http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p67/Supermassiveblackhole2/March/BritainsCivilianToysFiguresPages.jpg

The Blue Book:

[img width=620 height=476]http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p67/Supermassiveblackhole2/March/CivilianHollowCastFront.jpg

[img width=634 height=475]http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p67/Supermassiveblackhole2/March/CivilianHollowCastPages.jpg

[super6]

I have a few pieces by FG Taylor including a Trade box of Stooks. Never seen the gig before, a little crude in comparison to the Britains version.

I have not seen any catalogues, trade or otherwise, from FG Taylor, but don't doubt that they exist although not in large quantities as Britains ones do.

The Joplin books are a little on the pricey side for my liking. Being a Britains fan I only have the green one, he also did another that covered a lot of different manufacturers lead/metal based figures etc, I have access to a soft bound version. Two other good reference books for Britains lead, I know a little off topic, are Armies of the world and Regiments of all nations by Joe Wallis.

[FordTractorCrazy]

fantastic.. what have i started    , sounds like i need to get the green book for sure. Does that involve the F-numbers of the Farm series? like horse drawn carts etc?

I am still in doubt about the other book. I dont buy that many lead figures, so might not have enough value for me yet.. but on the other hand, it would help identifying some figures i do have and dont know who made them..

in short..    if you can get the green book, i'd love to purchase it of you!

[Lady Ferguson]

fantastic.. what have i started    , sounds like i need to get the green book for sure. Does that involve the F-numbers of the Farm series? like horse drawn carts etc?

I am still in doubt about the other book. I dont buy that many lead figures, so might not have enough value for me yet.. but on the other hand, it would help identifying some figures i do have and dont know who made them..

in short..    if you can get the green book, i'd love to purchase it of you!

Yes it does, hun

[Lady Ferguson]

Just spoke with a dealer-friend (been in the business for 25 years) and that farmer's gig is apparently incredibly rare - in-fact that's the only one he's ever seen in plastic (the lead version is rare enough).

With reference to the crude castings - it should be noted that (like the early Britains plastics), these models were made entirely from the original lead moulds. *** never really got into the plastics market in a big way and therefore, didn't develop new moulds (John Hill were the same and I have several of their plastic figures, also).

[THEBRITFARMER]

Here is a website that maybe of interest

http://www.thetoybox.4t.com/

Richard is a great guy to deal with and I have bought quite a few pieces from him over the years. He is a little on the expensive side but does have those rare and hard to find items.

[Lady Ferguson]

Here is a website that maybe of interest

http://www.thetoybox.4t.com/

Richard is a great guy to deal with and I have bought quite a few pieces from him over the years. He is a little on the expensive side but does have those rare and hard to find items.

Thanks, Scott

[david_scrivener]

*** never really got into the plastics market in a big way and therefore, didn't develop new moulds (John Hill were the same and I have several of their plastic figures, also).

I'm also collecting these, especially anything (farm, zoo, soldiers, cowboys/indians) in plastic by JoHillCo. The 'Plastic Warrior' Guide to JoHillCo plastics is the best guide to which of their lead figures were also made in plastic, but even they admit there are still a lot more to be discovered. Most JoHillCo plastics are quite poor as well, and some can be found in a variety of unsuitable coloured plastics (mainly cowboys/indians). As JoHillCo seemed never to have been very interested in plastic, and this was all happening very early on in the plastic era, say from about 1955 until they went bust in 1960, with some of their moulds being passed on to Cherilea (ex JoHillCo people) they may have bought any colour raw material plastic they could get cheap. 

There wern't that many other UK manufacturers of plastic farm & zoo, so it's quite possible to get a good representative collection without spending a fortune. The main other ranges were Barretts (FG Taylor's former partner), Charbens, Cherilea, Crescent & Timpo, and then it gets into the fascinating (to us obsessives) topic of the minor companies such as Gemodels, Paramount, Speedwell, Trojan, UNA & VP. Some of them (and unknown others?) made pirate copies of the Britains/Herald ranges in addition to the many similar pirate copies made in Hongkong. Most of these were undersized and very poor & crudely moulded, but the best of them are almost as good as the real thing, sometimes with a few original figures.

[Lady Ferguson]

Interesting, David. I would say luckily for me that F G Taylor is relatively cheap to collect (and therefore, I can justify hanging onto) - I can't afford to keep most of the models I buy these days!